Tuesday, March 23, 2010

because of

greetings! thought I'd do a quick post. up to now, my attendance at the cleveland international film festival has been sporadic; but that will be changing tomorrow as I ratchet up my presence and my time in the dark. as of now I've only seen six films - but the films I've seen have all been excellent. in case you are curious here's what I've seen, you can't go wrong if you are able to catch any (or all) of them, order presented is in order seen:

a brand new life, narrative film from south korea and france based on the filmmaker's own story; this film, set in the mid-1970s, is about a young girl who is given over to an orphanage by her father. a tender tale of friendship and reinvention, the acting is superb, beautifully filmed.

ingredients, u.s. documentary about the local foods movement - unlike food inc. (which by the way I thought was great) this film makes a case to embrace a sustainable food system not by scaring us but by enticing us - a very intelligent film with cinematography that is absolutely gorgeous. visit the film's website for a trailer and for more information.

harvest, us indy film - powerful family drama, the most striking thing about this film was the authenticity of its characters - and how the film realistically captures the dynamics of family life, warts and all - but in the end it is an uplifting and inspiring story and film. want more, check out the film's blog raising harvest.

beauty in trouble, narrative film from the czech republic. a smart, sensual, oddly affecting film with a great cast. seeing this film makes me want to find all the other films that jan hrebejk directed.

dear lemon lima, narrative u.s. indy film. love love love this movie. quirky, brilliant and absolutely magical. I want everyone I know to see this film!

warrior champions, u.s. documentary - inspiring film by veteran documentary filmmakers craig and brent renaud about iraq veterans who have suffered tremendous losses who came back and rather than giving in went on to become paralympians. and yes, there is a website.

although the two films I saw yesterday late afternoon/evening were great, yesterday's big treat was a visit with john of robert frost banjo. john is currently working his way back home after a whirlwind trip east visiting family, friends and meeting a few of us in the bloggyhood. this was the first time I met john, but as so often happens when meeting someone whose blog one has read for a while, it felt like I've known john for years. the weather was chilly and wet, so my plans to take a wander with john and show him some of my favorite spots were abandoned in favor of just hanging out, swapping stories and having a simple lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato-basil soup before he had to hit the road for his next stop.

with one week left of women's history month, I thought it fitting to post the trailer for this year's cleveland international film festival which is entitled grrrl power (I understand ciff created at least 7 different trailers - so far I've seen 3 different ones, maybe by the end of the festival I'll have seen all of them - they are quite fun, and what's real fun is recognizing some of the people in the trailers)

Thanks for the 411 on the festival. What a great photo of you and Robert. You sure get around, especially with people whose names start with "R", ie, Reay, Robert.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is one of my husbands all time fave meals in winter. But since he had a mild heart attack a little over a year ago, we now have toasted, organic PB&J and tomato soup. It actually hits about the same level of satisfaction of ooey-gooey creamy goodness and warm soup.

john - I have the same approach to grilled cheese sandwiches as I do to making pizza - with grilled cheese I love experimenting with yummy things inside. since baino requested recipes I'll provide a description of how I made the grilled cheese we enjoyed monday:

bread is vital, monday's was olive bread from the blackbird bakery here in lakewood, outside liberally buttered. inside our sandwich were three different cheese - gruyere, some special italian cheese whose name is forgotten - sampled it last trip to gallucci's and of course I had to get a 1/2 lb (which is what always happens when one of the boys gives me a sample of some new cheese) and colby-jack, red onion, baby bella and maille provencal mustard (my favorite mustard) - grilled of course - simple yet yummy. the tomato-basil soup I can't take credit for but give thanks to my local indy heinen's grocery soup maven for making it (not canned and no yucky ingredients)

rhonda - I used to love making grilled cheese and peanut butter sandwiches - they pare probably heart attack specials given the way I make grilled cheese.... but if you and your honey ever come to lunch I promise to make something heart friendly (if needed I can avoid butter, although it is hard)

lorenzo - I'll be listing the other movies I see in future posts your list is gonna grow!

angela - i do like connecting with my fellow sentient beings (all categories truth be told) - one day I do look forward to connecting with you in nyc or here on the north coast should your travels bring you through....

marc - thanks for visiting the mouse and I look forward to seeing harvest again - with family - after all it is filmed in a town very, very familiar to us and it is a movie's with enough subtlety to warrant viewing more than once....look forward to checking out what else you've done!

meri - film festivals are wonderful events - never really experienced them until moving to cleveland before and cleveland's really rocks!!

save the fish!

cost of the war

join the movement for non-violence

click on button to take the vow

unless noted otherwise, all photos on the mouse are taken by me, kim yanoshik. you are welcome to use them if credit is given. if you seek to make a profit, you need to first ask permission to use the photo; then you are obliged to share that profit with yours truly, otherwise karma will catch up with you!